E-course Development – Part 1: Discover Demand

Many people are wanting to jump on the bandwagon of creating courses. The thought is thrilling! But then the fear sinks in And you worry, “What do I teach?”, ‘Where would I start?”, “ How will I find the time”, and “Who would buy it?”These are valid questions and ones that suggest to START SMALL.Or in business terms, create a product with minimum value to test the market, and not drain your funds, time, energy or sanity. To create a minimum value product…

Narrow down one idea for a small course

Map out the whole learning experience

Get your feet wet as a course developer

Try out free or cheaper technologies you like

Parcel out 20 or 30 hours to complete the build

Test your market with a free or low cost offer

Let’s review the first item, narrowing your idea, which can be difficult.NARROWING DOWN YOUR IDEADon’t create a course unless you see a demand for that information, experience or skill set. Click To TweetStep 1Okay, you know a lot about your ‘thing’ and that is why you want to teach others about it. Let’s narrow down not only what you want to and can teach, but also WHAT YOUR MARKET IS CRYING FOR. That’s right, crying for!Do not create a course unless you see a demand for that information, experience or skill set. Repeat after me… do not create a course unless you see a demand for that information, experience or skill set.Good job.But now you wonder what is demanded???!! Easy…..reflect on the question below … over time (give it 3 weeks)…

as you take a walk

as you surf online groups

as you chat with colleagues

as you stare out the window.

What is one thing that people keep asking you for or are confused about, and you find that you continue to answer them.

Maybe you answer this one question, again and again, in Facebook groups as you want to support others and feel you have the expertise to answer.

Maybe people at work or friends continuously ask for help with it and you’ve become the Go-to-Person for that one piece of info.

Perhaps, it is one of your most popular roles as an employee or services as a business. You create this one thing aaaalllll the time with ease, unlike others.

See how each refers to ‘others’ asneeding that ‘one’ thing? That is your niche market and focused offer. Take time to ponder this – I promise one day the lightbulb will go one and you will come up with a brilliant idea. Step 2Become Sherlock Holmes. The idea is sprouting (maybe you have 2 ideas) and it’s time to put on your investigator’s hat. Don’t take that hat off for a month. Perform the following sleuth work to learn about the MARKET demand for your teachable idea.

Google the thing you want to teach: How much is said about it? Is it hot or not?

Search Amazon for your topic: What are reviewers still needing to know?

Form an interest focus group or survey in lieu of a gift: What do they say about your idea?

Follow the topic leaders: What are they teaching you could do more like you?

Step 3

Prepare that beautiful mind of yours to teach

Know there is room for everyone

Trust that you can teach others

what they need

Trust that in your heart and bones is a desire to help

Know that your words and wisdom

and light are meant to be shared

Teaching is a form of caring

You know…

how to care

Let go of your assumptions

Check your attachments

Be you, inside and outside

We are waiting for you to teach us

Recall, relight the vision of your favourite teacher

Model him/her with sprinkles of you

Do it your way,

reach out

Heal, release, help up and empower others

Are you thinking about creating a new online e-course? What’s one thing people keep asking you for or are confused about? Share it by commenting below and stay tuned for more ways to effectively build e-courses.